Sports Direct has named a 30-year-old store manager as its first workers’ representative on its board.
Mike Ashley’s sporting goods retailer said Alex Balacki, who runs the Barnstaple, Devon branch and has worked for the company for 13 years, will attend all board meetings to speak for the company’s 23,000 staff during his one-year tenure.
The move makes Sports Direct the first to respond to Prime Minister Theresa May’s call for workers to have a voice on boards.
It follows heavy criticism from MPs and investors over alleged “Victorian” conditions at its warehouse and a string of corporate governance issues.
These included the appointment of the then 26-year-old boyfriend of Ashley’s daughter as head of the chain’s property portfolio.
Luke Primarolo, who is leading union Unite’s campaign for Sports Direct workers, said today Balacki faces “an uphill struggle to convince the workforce that he will be their eyes and ears in the boardroom”.
“We urge that he makes one of his first acts to persuade the company that agency workers on insecure hire-and-fire contracts are offered permanent appointments,” Primarolo added.
